You Once Again Enter A World of Survival Horror
by RageBekka
Summary: Sequel to Resident Evil: Revolution and Annihilation. Max wakes up thinking it was all just a dream, little did she know, she was once again entering the world of survival horror.
1. Part I

It took four days for them to reopen the Hive.  
It took four weeks for everything to go to Hell.

(If you hadn't noticed by now, I changed the timeline.)

Part I

* * *

3 1/2 Weeks Later...

Max awoke with a start; her body gasped for air, she raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"A nightmare, a fucking nightmare," she slowly laid back. She let out a loud hacking cough and realized just how dry her mouth was. In trying to get off her bed she slipped and hit the ground hard. It ripped the IV that had been in her arm out and she let out a gasp of pain. She clapped a hand over her bleeding wound and she heard the sound of a heart rate monitor going crazy. It took her a moment to realize it was attached to the wires that were stuck to her chest. She used the bloody hand to pull the stickers and wires from her. The heart monitor beeped loudly signaling a flat line.

A smell that made her feel ill hit her nose; it was the smell of urine and fecal matter. She didn't need to look down to realize it'd come from her. She gagged but nothing came up seeing as she had nothing in her stomach.

The door burst open and three nurses with a crash cart rushed in. Her eyes widened as they carefully helped her up and wrapped her arm in a massive amount of gauze to stop the bleeding from her vein. Before she knew it she was clean and bandaged up with the nodes reattached to her chest. The nurses had sponged her clean after berating her for slipping out of the bed and injuring herself not to mention scaring them half to death.

They left her alone after making sure she was all set in bed and reattached to various machines. She didn't want to look at either of her arms for fear of gagging and throwing up her stomach. Her eyes scanned the rest of her body and she saw that her ankle was bandaged up pretty well. Her face lost color as she remembered the events from before. Panic set in as she realized she didn't know where anyone was, whether Rain was dead or alive, what had happened to Alice? To Kaplan? To Matt? How did she get here?

A single tear fell down her cheek as the door opened. In walked a man with a really odd-looking mustache.

"Glad you're awake," he smiled as he pulled a seat up beside her bed. She scanned his face trying to figure out who he was; her eyes widened in realization.

"Kaplan?" He winked at her then flashed her a smile as the door opened again to show a doctor.

"Oh hello Mr. Smith, I was expecting to find Mrs. Smith alone," if possible her eyes widened further and she looked between Kaplan and the doctor.

"You know I'd never leave my wife's side," he took her hand and squeezed it; it was clear by the twinkle in his eyes that he was amused.

"Yes well, it seems your wife did a number on herself earlier," he tsk'ed as he flipped through pages on a clipboard, "-tore a vein right open. Can't have that happening again, let's see. She's going to need extensive physical therapy for the atrophy. So that means no sex, at least for a while," his eyes looked above the clipboard at Kaplan and Max who both blushed deeply.

"Good, good, I suppose I'll be leaving you two alone now," he turned and walked back out of the room. In a very adult like manner, Kaplan stuck his tongue out at the door and flipped it off. She playfully slapped his arm and laughed then decided to give him the death look.

"Look, I know you have a lot of questions, and I'll answer all of them," he started before she could open her mouth.

"Can I have some water?" He blinked in surprise then nodded and got her a glass. With his specific instruction she slipped it slowly.

She handed him back the glass which he placed onto the bedside table, instantly she bombarded him with questions.

"Where's Alice? What happened to Matt? How'd I get here? Why are we married? How long have I been here? Why does my ass hurt?"

He held up his hands to stop her, "For the love of God woman, breath and ask one question at a time."

With a sigh she complied, "Where's Alice?"

"After being taken from the Hive, I heard they moved her to a room here under lock and guard. Where at exactly I can't be sure, I've looked around while you've been in here sleeping; lazy."

"What about Matt?"

"I don't know, I lost track of him after he was taken from us," Kaplan frowned and shook his head.

"How'd I get here?"

"We took you out of there, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy." He smiled at her proudly. Something rang a bell in her head and she looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"You said we?" As if on cue, the door opened again. To say Max didn't cry would be a lie; her eyes water as she watched the beautiful latina known as Rain walk in.

"Hey Elizabeth, look who's awake," Kaplan grinned as Rain or 'Elizabeth' slowly walked over to her.

"Elizabeth?"

"You remember my cousin, right babe?" Both Rain and Max made faces at him as he said this, and he got up with his hands up before winking.

"I'll give you two a minute," he exited the room and through the window they could see him stand at the door like a sentry.

Rain took his unoccupied seat and scooted it closer, "Hey loca," her fingers grazed the bandage around her arm,"-can't go five minutes without hurting yourself huh?" Her smile was bitter.

"I saw you," Max's eyes roamed Rain's face. Rain only nodded slowly.

"I've been here almost as often as 'Gary' has," she made air quotations and nodded at the door to signify she meant Kap.

"No, I saw you get shot, I saw you go down," at this Rain frowned at sat back. While biting her lip she slowly raised her shirt to show the pink puffy flesh where the bullet had entered her body, she turned to show a similar site on her back where the bullet had exited. She was about to pull her shirt down when Max stopped her. She ran a careful finger over the healing wound and she looked up at Rain.

"Don't do that to me again please," Rain tilted her head in confusion, "-don't...don't scare me like that."

"Loca I can't make any-," Max pulled her hand away and sighed, her eyes sought out a window on the other side of the room. There was daylight coming through the slits in the blinds, real, legitimate light from the star known as the sun.

"Can you open the blinds for me?" Slowly Rain got up to fulfill her request. The light filtered in and hit her face, she closed her eyes for a moment so they could adjust to the brightness.

"How long did you work down there?"

"Six long years. That's why they recommended I take a vacation," Rain slowly walked back over to her and took a seat.

"Six years; that's a hell of a time to be underground," Rain bit her lip and gnawed on it for a moment while waiting for Max to respond.

"Yeah, when I went in I was brown, believe it or not," she smiled and winked. Rain paused for a moment.

"Sure you were loca."

"I was on vacation for like ten hours, and like a rat used to its cage, I couldn't suffer the outside world. I tried to go back, Alice stopped me, asked me if I wanted a drink, and I agreed. Drank a little too much; that's how Ka- Mr. Smith found me."

"What'd you do on your vacation?" At this, Max smiled widely.

"I wrecked the car the company lent me, I punched a bicyclist for calling me a bitch, I went to the bar and drank half a bottle of Senor Jose Cuervo all to myself, then I punched a guy who grabbed my ass and asked if I knew any swamp donkeys, whatever the hell that is," she shook her head in confusion as Rain laughed.

"Do you punch everyone you meet?"

"I don't know, do you?" Rain flinched and looked at the ground. She remembered the guilt of punching Max in the face for what probably saved her life. Max tilted her head in confusion before taking Rain's hand and holding it.

"Is it really all over? Did it all really happen?" Before Rain could answer Kaplan barged in.

"Time to go you two," he tossed a bag onto the bed near her legs.

"I can't move."

"Your muscles have atrophied," Kaplan put a chair under the door and closed all the blinds.

"How many?" Rain stood abruptly and began to unzip the bag.

"Three. Well armed."

"What's going on?"

Rain whipped clothes out of the bag and sat Max up.

"Umbrella's here," she froze as Rain pulled out a gun, made sure it was loaded and slid it into the waist of her jeans. Max blushed as Rain took the hospital gown off of her.

"No dinner first?" Max's cheeks were cherry red as Rain smiled and pulled a shirt down over her. She helped her stand and pull a pair of sweatpants on. There was a loud knock on the door; Kaplan drew his gun and aimed it at the door.

"Hurry please," the knock got louder as Rain threw the bag over her shoulder and drug Max over to the window. Finally someone attempted to open the door only to be met by resistance. Kaplan walked backward toward the window Rain had smashed open. He waited for Rain to climb out onto the ledge and she pulled Max out after her. Max could barely breathe with the force of Rain holding onto her. Kaplan put one leg out of the window before firing three rounds into the door that had just flown open. There was silence as he climbed all the way out and looked down at the three-story drop.

Kaplan held onto Max as Rain tied a rope to a heavy-duty drainage pipe, carefully she leaned back over; there was a blast from the room they'd come from and Rain caught Max before she fell. Kaplan wasn't so lucky.


	2. Part II

Part II

* * *

"KAPLAN!" Both Rain and Max yelled simultaneously. Their ears still rang with the sound from the flash-bang that had gone off in the room they'd been in previously.

They watched as he fell; his hands trying desperately to grab at anything that would save him. Rain threw the rope that had originally been intended for them to shimmy down the pipe. At the last possible moment Kaplan grabbed the rope. It stopped most of him from hitting the ground. They could hear the sound of snapping bones as his legs made impact with the asphalt. l  
"Hold on Chad," Rain grabbed the extra but much smaller length of rope she had and tied it carefully around Max, then she tied it to herself.

"Hold on to me loca," Max wrapped her arms completely around her for dear life. Quickly Rain made it to the ground, she cut the rope from around Max and handed her a weapon.

"They shoot at you, you shoot right back. Try to aim for the head," she handed her a few extra clips.

"W-where are you going?" Max didn't know what to do, all she knew was that her legs weren't working correctly and Kaplan's definitely weren't. He was groaning in pain but he whipped out his weapon to assist her.

"To get a car," with that Rain took off at full speed. Max looked up toward the window and when she found it (it was smoking, pretty obvious what room it was) a man fired shots that nearly hit both her and Kaplan. Kaplan fired back automatically; the sound of sirens getting closer filled the air. Hesitantly Max raised the weapon and fired with her eyes closed. Next thing she knew Kaplan had rolled on top of her and as he held on to her, he rolled further away. An explosion went off where they'd just been; he continued to cover her body with his. Four men came around the side of the building and instantly started firing at them. Needless to say, Max was glad bad guys had terrible aim.

Kaplan had dropped his weapon somewhere in the last three rolls; Max carefully raised hers and fired; the burst of red behind his head told them she'd been dead on with her aim. Two of the men moved forward while the other covered them. The sound of a screeching vehicle hit their ears; the vehicle slid and slammed into the two moving Umbrella soldiers.

Rain stepped out of the vehicle and shot the man in the head with a blast from a shotgun, slowly she walked over to the other two; she shot both of them in the head to ensure that they were dead. Her feet hurried along the pavement as she helped Max up. Apparently she didn't realize she'd be holding all of Max's weight as she had to drag Kaplan along behind her.

He picked his weapon up as he was drug by it; he fired multiple rounds into the window and the man firing at them fell with a loud thud. Kaplan used the door to lift himself and his broken leg into the vehicle. Rain set Max in and handed her the bag to hold; quickly she jumped in and they took off like a shot in the dark. Moments later vehicles skidded around the corner and after them.

"We can't go 'home'," Kaplan looked at Rain then fired out of the window. Their vehicle jumped as one of Umbrella's SUV's rammed into the back of it.

"FUCK! You think I don't know that Chad?" She turned the wheel sharply sending the vehicles following them scrambling for direction. One turned so suddenly that it flipped onto its side and rolled sending pieces of the vehicle flying around. The sound of glass shattering echoed in the vehicle as the back windshield was shot out.

"Stay down Max!" Rain yelled as she looked back to see her cradling the pistol like a baby.

Kaplan spun in his seat and fired shot after shot; it became apparent he'd hit one as the nearest vehicle slammed into a telephone pole. Two more quickly pulled up to them. Shots were fired again and they got way too close to Max for comfort. It felt like everything went in slow motion and she watched a bullet fly through her seat and she watched it whiz past Rain's ear. Something in Max snapped and she sat up with the 9mm aimed at the vehicles. She heard nothing except for her own breathing and heartbeat; she fire four times at each vehicle; she watched the slugs hit each of her targets; both drivers slumped in their seats and the vehicles slammed into each other and came to a halt.

Slowly she put the gun down onto the seat and all at once the sound came back to her. She could hear the sound of cars careening past them, the sound the air made as it tried to push back the force that was the vehicle. She could hear one of the earlier vehicles explode.

"Jesus Christ, who knew your girlfriend was such a damn good shot?"

"Yeah, she learned everything she knows from me," at this both Kaplan and Rain laughed before she reached back and gently touched Max's leg.

"You okay Max?" Max jumped a little before looking at her and nodding. They abandoned the vehicle in a less than reputable neighborhood and stole a real piece of crap that Kaplan claimed could be turned into something nice. They drove to a fast food restaurant and parked. Rain got out and got in the back with Max.

"That was some nice shooting for a desk jockey," she grabbed the bag that Max had been holding onto for her. She unzipped it and smiled at Max who yawned.

"I'm no desk jockey, I'm a scientist," Rain laughed loudly and shook her head mumbling something about it being the same thing.

Rain pulled a smaller bag out of the bag and took the medical equipment to make a splint for Kaplan.

"Think you can make it like that Kap?" He nodded slowly as he tested the splint and his leg.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good. I can't be carrying both your asses around now can I?" She looked back to find Max attempting to stand on her own; she buckled under her own weight and hit her knees.

"Alright you, time to get some rest. We'll work on your legs in the morning okay Loca?" Rain swooped her up in one quick movement and they walked slowly to their 'home' which was just an abandoned warehouse with a dresser and several cots in the corner of the room.

"The others must be out," Rain said softly to Kap as she realized Max had fallen asleep. With a sigh she set her down and tucked her in before looking at Kaplan.

"Think she'll be ready by the time-"

"I hope so Kap," Rain laid back on the cot and signaled to Kap to take watch.


	3. Part III

Part III

She awoke to a warm hand cradling her face; she smiled to herself but the moment the warmth went away, a splash of absolutely cold water hit her face.

She sat up using her arms as leverage and sputtered as she heard Kaplan laughing hysterically. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him; behind him she could see Rain coming up with her own bucket, she dumped it onto his head and he gasped, his face gave away the shock.

"Ha! Asshole," Max laughed slightly and swung her dead legs over the edge. Her body shivered a little; the water had been cold.

"Get outta here you wet ass," Rain pushed Kap away from them and he laughed. She sat on the cot in front of Max.

"How are you feeling?"

She shrugged and shivered, "Wet, cold."

"Well, I usually have that effect on women," there was amusement flickering in her eyes as Max shook her head.

"And I thought I was ridiculous," they both laughed and Rain got up to get her some fresh, dry clothes. Max pulled off the wet shirt and sat there half nude, her arms covering her breasts. She heard a soft whistle from behind her and turned to see Rain with the clothes.

"Here's your clothes loca," she winked and sat across from her. Max blushed deeply as she put on the bra, her body half turned away from Rain. Rain got up slowly and kneeled in front of Max, she lifted her right leg up as Max pulled down the shirt she'd put on.

Slowly she massaged her calf and then her knee before stretching her leg out. Max winced slightly as Rain pushed it up causing her thigh muscles to stretch and ache. This went on for an hour before Kaplan came back in. He saw Rain help Max finish putting on the jeans they'd 'obtained' for her.

_Two Days Later_

Max's legs were coming along better than anybody could expect. They'd gotten strong enough to hold her own weight and allow her to walk around without being helped for short periods of time.

Kaplan attributed it to the fact that both he and Rain had worked her legs while she was in a 'coma', but Max liked to believe that it was the work of her amazing and sexy physical therapist. Though Rain seemed to believe it had something to do with the T-Virus and the anti-virus mixing in her blood, regardless of what it was, they were all happy about her progress.

Today Rain decided she would teach Max to fight, so that at least she'd have a way to defend herself if she ended up without a weapon. They were in the middle of the warehouse room where they wouldn't hit anything over than the cheap thin blankets they'd put on the floor for padding if they fell.

Rain stood in front of Max who was holding her hands and arms up in a rather comical way.

"What are you doing?" Rain laughed loudly and shook her head.

"Isn't this the way you're supposed to do it?"

"No, here I'll show you," Rain swung at Max who swung back trying to hit her before she could get hit. Rain grabbed her wrist in between her forearms and spun Max around knocking her to the ground with the force of the spin.

"See? Leaves you open, you gotta do it like this," she pulled Max to her feet and got behind her. She wrapped her arms around Max for a second before using her arms to position Max correctly. Rain used her leg to nudge Max's apart so she'd have better balance and stance. Max shivered a little as Rain spoke quietly next to her ear.

"This is better, you do it like this, then you let instinct take over," Rain kissed the area just behind Max's ear and she gasped a little while Rain chuckled and moved away.

"Swing Loca, let's see what you got," Max shook her head to snap out of it before swinging toward Rain who easily countered.

"Better! Again," Rain blocked as Max continued swinging, her fists only making contact with Rain's arms, swing after swing Max could feel her determination getting stronger. Finally, her fist made contact with Rain's cheek and she gasped.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" Rain swung her arm into her chest and knocked her off of her feet. Max lay panting and breathless, confused about what had just happened. Rain slowly stood over her, a leg on each side of her thighs, slowly she sat on her with a smile.

"That was good loca, but never stop to apologize, never stop to make sure your enemy is okay, they will always use that as an advantage," Max nodded slowly and smiled as Rain leaned down to kiss her.

It was gentle at first, but Rain quickly deepened it and pulled Max's face closer to hers. It was clear to them who was the dominant person, and with bruising force she kept kissing Max. Slowly she pulled away and gently bit Max's lower lip.

There was a whistle followed by a, "Kiss her again!"

Rain rolled her eyes and got off of Max before standing straight up and flipping off the newcomers.

Max was red, her face was hot, and she didn't make any eye contact with anybody. She just stood behind Rain using her body as a shield for her embarrassment.

"Hello John, hello Andy," Rain slowly walked over to them and Max slowly followed her, "this is Max. Max this is John and Andy."

Rain pointed to the man named John then the girl named Andy and smiled, "These two helped us get out of the Umbrella facility with you. Andy is a doctor and John's a nurse."

"Nice to meet you," she shook both of their hands with a small, still embarrassed smile. Kaplan wandered in behind them eating a sandwich, he paused as they all looked at him and he grinned, a piece of lettuce stuck out of his mouth. He swallowed and stood next to Max.

"What happened?" He became completely serious as John nodded.

"We found her. We found Alice," all of them straightened up and became attentive.

"But, there's a problem. She has 24/7 security. Dressed as police officers, their story is that she's some sort of criminal, they've got her locked down in one of the mental wards," Rain sighed and kicked the ground.

"How the fuck we gonna get her out of there?"

"I don't know if that's going to be a problem for much longer," they looked to Kaplan in confusion and waited a further explanation.

"Look at this," he pulled a newspaper from his back pocket, the headline was 'The Dead Walk'.

"The cops are trying to play it off as a spree of violence, some sort of gang initiation, but it's happening more and more often. A reporter was attacked on live tv, there's no way they can continue with this story. It's getting bad out there, soon, the city will be overwhelmed."

They all went silent.


	4. Part IV

Part IV

(Sorry some of these are so short, I just like to leave ya'll on cliffhangers to keep ya comin' back for more!)

* * *

Kaplan was right, things were getting bad. In the moment they had of silence alone, they could hear multiple sirens screaming in all directions.

They plotted and planned their rescue operation. They'd decided on the next morning, giving them adequate time to rest and prepare.

John and Kaplan barbecued, something that seemed strange and out of place to Max. The yard outside of the warehouse was fenced in so they felt it was safe to cook up a decent meal. Somehow Andy had obtained a bottle of tequila (much to Max's horror) and a few beers. So they all sat around eating their food and drinking while exchanging a few comical stories about how they'd met. How Max had scared the hell out of Kaplan, ruthlessly hit on any woman who crossed her path, and had called Rain beautiful and survived. Then there was the story of how Kaplan had met Rain. That was something they wouldn't forget. Rain had just joined One's team and J.D had dared poor Kaplan to hit on Rain. Not only had Rain knocked Kaplan out cold, but she'd sent J.D. into hiding for a week before One had put a stop to her hunt for him.

Max finished her beer and got up to get both her and Rain another. As she walked over Rain stood and took the beer from her hand, then took her hand, and lead her over to the side away from everyone else. She sat down on a cot and carefully pulled out a handgun.

"This is yours, I've seen what you can do with it, but don't shoot unless you absolutely have to," Max nodded and Rain placed it in her hand.

"We don't have a lot of ammo, so if you do have to shoot, make it count."

Rain sat in front of her and showed her how to take apart a weapon, clean it, and reassemble it.

When they finished with that Max got close to Rain and kissed her. Rain kissed back much like she had earlier; with a lot of pent up aggression.

Rain pressed her back into the cot and nudged her legs apart. She pressed her body fully against hers as they kept kissing. Slowly she slid her tongue into her mouth and delighted in the sound of Max moaning. Playfully she nipped at her bottom lip and she rubbed her thigh against Max's center.

"Don't tease me Ocampo," came Max's soft growl. Rain had no intention of teasing her, as was clear by her practically tearing Max's shirt off. She popped the button right off of her jeans and unzipped them before pulling them down a little.

In their lust and aggression they didn't hear the sounds of multiple gunshots outside, or maybe they just didn't care. The sound of soft footsteps interrupted them, then the sound of someone clearing their throat.

"Fuck," Rain was pissed. She pulled the blanket over Max and got up, clearly frustrated.

Andy giggled a slightly buzzed giggle then laid in her cot. Max looked at Rain longingly and she shook her head. With a sigh Max pulled the blanket farther over herself feeling beyond frustrated. She definitely knew the meaning of 'blue balls'.

_Next Morning_

Rain was the first one awake; her hands carefully checked and rechecked every weapon, making sure they were loaded and ready to go. She checked the tactical vests they'd taken from Umbrella to make sure they were stocked and ready.

She took a rather overly aggressive bite of her protein bar before tossing the wrapper in the trash. She shoved the rest in her mouth and started to stretch. At this moment, she exuded a lot of sexual frustration.

Kaplan was next to get up; he wandered over chewing on a granola bar, "What's got you up so early and looking flustered?"

"Don't worry about it," she kept stretching then got down to do some push ups.

"Ah, sexual frustration?" He finished his granola bar, looked at his weapon, realized Rain had tended to it, then got down next to her to do one-legged push ups. One had them do this all the time. Eat, check weapons, stretch, exercise, eat, check weapons, stretch, run, hydrate...

"Fuckin' Andy interrupted us, just frustrating ya know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, it can be difficult, especially since from as far as I know, neither of us have been laid in months, there's only so much exercise can do," they both stopped doing push ups and flipped over to do sit ups.

"Yeah. Sucks ass man," she was doing her sit ups faster than Kaplan could. He could sense the extreme frustration coming from her.

"You really like her don't you?" Kaplan did his best to keep up while Rain stopped all together and looked at him.

"I do," he nodded and stopped, then got up.

"Tell her yet?"

"Nope," she started to do a few jumping jacks before he could even get up.

"Why not?" She didn't say anything. He knew her, he knew she wasn't the type to openly admit her feelings to anybody. She was too much of a bad-ass for that. They both cleaned themselves up before checking all of their gear and waking up the others. Clearly they weren't used to militarized timing and operations as they grumbled about needing more sleep and better breakfasts than MRE's and protein bars.

Kaplan looked over at Max who was sitting there, awkwardly staring at the floor and eating a protein bar. He then looked at Rain who was staring at the ceiling and fiddling with her vest; she was doing everything but looking at Max.

John, who'd found some instant black coffee, downed the rest of it and smiled, "We ready to go?" In silence they all nodded and did one last check to be sure they had everything they needed.

They walked over to the warehouse door and slid it open; the city was silent. Fires raged all over the city, debris and newspapers covered the ground, there was blood in various places, a few scattered body parts. John paled visibly and shook his head; he'd seen a lot of things in his life, but this definitely took the cake.

Kaplan double checked his MP5 before signaling for them to stay there; he ran off but came back moments later with a stolen Umbrella SUV. They all let out little laughs as they piled in. Kaplan in the driver's seat, Rain in shotgun with her own suppressed MP5, Andy just behind Kap with a SPAS-12 shotgun, and John behind Rain with an H&K UMP, and in between those two sat Max with a 9MM Beretta.

The streets were silent, vehicles lay like children's toys, long ago forgotten by their owner. They could hear vague sounds of sirens and gun shots farther into the city, but for now they were alone. They were on edge, that much was obvious and clear. As Kaplan drove slowly through the streets, their destination getting closer, they had to weave through more vehicles.

The SUV came to a stop with Kaplan turning off the vehicle and jumping out. He was on high alert; his casted leg barely held him back. He motioned for John and Andy to take the lead as they knew where Alice was. They entered the deserted hospital slowly, each taking corners as if there could be someone around them.

Max took her turn checking a hallway only to be confronted by a dog. Not something she'd been expecting. The half torn vest on it signified that it was or had been a service dog of some sort. It snarled, red foamy drool dripped from its chops. She raised her weapon and aimed at it slowly; she didn't move from fear of making it attack. They could sense her tension and they slowly got closer to her. Rain took a knee next to her while aiming her weapon at it. Kaplan stood on the other side of her, waiting.

"What do we do?" Andy spoke quietly, unsure of what was going to happen. As an answer, the dog snarled and lunged; a silenced gun shot rang out, but it hadn't come from any of them.


	5. Part V

Part V

* * *

A man stepped out from the other end of the hall; he held his hands up to signify that he was friendly. Rain motioned for them all to lower their weapons and she stood.

"Who are you?" The man smiled and motioned to his police uniform.

"I don't know about that, we've seen fake cops around here before," Kaplan edged backward, carefully raising his weapon halfway.

"I'm not fake, but I am new here. This was supposed to be my first day, names Leon Kennedy," he smiled and offered his hand to Rain. His face showed a youthful innocence while at the same time showing a serious and hardened police officer. Rain shook his hand slowly and nodded.

"Rain, this is Kap, Max, John, and Andy, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the Police department, or maybe outside trying to maintain order?"

"I was ordered to check in at the department but it was overrun and practically destroyed. I was with a girl named Claire, she got hurt so I came here for supplies and a doctor. I found some supplies, but it looks like they're fresh out of doctors," he shrugged before holstering the weapon that had been in his hand.

"I'm a doctor, I can help your friend," Andy stepped forward and Leon gave them a look of absolute relief, "take me to her."

"What about-," she stopped John and Kaplan who'd started protesting with a hand motion.

"I'll be back, I'm sure Leon here can keep me safe," she gave them a reassuring smile and he nodded.

"Meet us out front when you're done," Andy saluted them before leaving with Leon. They continued on down the hall, John leading this time. It was evident by the look on his face that he was worried for Andy. They came to a meticulously white hall with a giant bio-hazard symbol on the ground. The door they had come to was open.

"Fuck, she's gone!"

"Now what the fuck do we do?" Rain and Max entered the room, they investigated the table in the middle of the room. Max bent down and picked up one of the needles, carefully she took Rain's knife and cut one of them open. She sniffed the clear chemical and looked at Rain.

"Sedatives, heavy-duty," she bent down and picked up a few more of the tubes, "there's a lot of drugs here. Must of had her hooked up all over her body. Looks like someone tore them out, could have been her."

"She would have been able to do that?" Slowly Max nodded while calculating things in her head.

"With the power outages lately, the meds could have stopped flowing long enough for her to free herself from this, maybe she would have been a little drowsy, but yes."

John and Kaplan both looked at her in confusion and she smiled, "I was a medical scientist, remember?"

Kaplan pondered for a moment before nodding. Max followed the small dotted trail of blood out of the room and down the hall, "She went this way."

Her eyes took in the small pinpricks of blood easily, though the others didn't seem to be able to see what she was seeing. Her feet carried her out to the street and it came to an end.

"Trail ends here," they looked at her and nodded, "it's a big city, how are we going to find her?"

"We don't, she'll find us," they looked at Rain and just shrugged. She seemed pretty sure about that. They waited for an hour, then another, and finally Kaplan looked at John.

"I don't think she's coming back," John shook his head, refusing to believe it.

"We need to get moving John," Rain tried to talk some sense into him but it didn't work.

"I'm gonna go look for her."

"John, we can't wait for you-"

"Then don't. I'm going," John ran off in the direction of the police department. Max stood still before turning to Rain who motioned for Kaplan and Max to follow her lead. She walked down the street with Max and Kaplan following her, their eyes continually scanning around alleys and cars for any threats.

Max turned and noticed Kaplan wince, clearly his leg was hurting with keeping pace with them. She went to ask if he was okay before he turned to her and put a finger to his lips with a wink. There were roadblocks everywhere, some were destroyed others were covered in blood and had RCPD police cars behind them. They got into one of the vehicles and heard over the radio, 'ALL OFF-DUTY PERSONNEL ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT FOR ASSIGNMENT' followed by a 'REPORTS OF UMBRELLA SENDING IN ARMED GUARDS AND TRANSPORT'. They looked at each other before Rain grabbed the radio that had been thrown onto the seat rather carelessly and attached it to herself.

Rain tossed a bottle to Kaplan and he downed the last two pills in it before they continued on. They walked for a few hours, only encountering a few of the undead which Rain took out with her knife. It started to get dark; the sound of helicopters filled the air and they ducked behind a building to hide from the Umbrella helicopters. The sound of automatic gunfire was getting louder the further they moved in. They watched two women and a dark-skinned man limp into a church. The dead were fast on their heels; Max fired a shot that struck one in the head and knocked it back away from the Asian women that seemed overwhelmingly familiar.

They ran in after them only to meet a man with a gun, "This is my place! GET OUT!"

"It's big enough for all of us," spoke the Asian women who Max only just realized was on TV. Slowly Rain and Kaplan trained their weapons on to the frightened man.

"Don't you tell me-" he aimed the gun directly at her before Max got between them.

"Calm down, we're not trying to kick you out of here," Rain looked at her like she was absolutely insane for stepping between a gun and a woman she'd never met before.

"Hey man, cool it. Put the gun down," the black man walked over and stood beside Max. She smelled something strange in the air and looked at him; her eyes traveled down and she saw the blood on his leg.

"Please put the gun down," Max smiled at him reassuringly and he slowly aimed it at the ground instead of anyone else.

"And you, take it easy," he looked at the Asian woman and smiled, trying to get her to keep her cool.

The man with the gun took a seat in one of the pews and held his face in his hands; he was tense, stressed, and scared. He'd come to the church for sanctuary and peace. Something many people would do when they were scared.

"Who the hell are you? You with Umbrella?" The black man stopped them, the woman in a very sexy outfit that Max couldn't help but notice, stood next to him protectively.

"No, we're not with Umbrella," Max started, "we're looking for a friend."

"You're pretty well armed to just be looking for a friend."

"Let's just say we've dealt with these things before," Rain spoke coolly and calmly.

"I'm Peyton, this is Valentine. We're police officers, part of the S.T.A.R.S unit," he offered his hand to Rain who shook it, followed by Max and Kaplan.

"Rain Ocampo, this crazy bitch here is Maximilian, and this is Chad Kaplan, glad to see people still alive out in this hell hole."

"There are thousands still alive, but Umbrella opened fire at everyone trying to escape the city," Jill lit up a cigarette and started smoking.

"I never thought they'd go that far," Max mumbled before sitting down.

"They sent us half a mile underground with those things, kidnapped us, and this surprises you?"

"I was hoping they'd decided to play nice," Max sighed deeply and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"So does the Raccoon City Police Department have any comment on what those things are?" Terri Morales, that was her name. Maybe she married a Hispanic man? Hmm.

"Or maybe you three? Anything to say?" Max smiled and waved at the camera.

"Look ma, I'm on tv!" Rain smacked her upside the head before Kaplan laughed hysterically.

"Really loca?" Max just grinned, trying to keep them in good spirits.

"What's that you got there?" Peyton asked her, trying to be serious and not smile at how stupid Max could be.

Terri turned and raised the camera to film Peyton, "My Emmy. That's if any of us actually make it out of here alive." They heard a noise from the back of the church and Jill raised her weapon. She looked at them and Peyton nodded for her to check it out.

"We need to keep moving," Rain interrupted their silence, "we still gotta find Alice."

Terri turned the camera to film Rain who flipped her off before Kaplan could stop her.

"Alright. I don't think it's a good idea, but I can see you're well equipped to handle it, good luck," Peyton shook their hands again and they thanked him.

"Oh, and Max?" Max turned to look at the woman with the camera in her hand, she walked over to her and planted a kiss on her lips, "Thanks for saving me."

Max stood, flabbergasted, what the hell was it with people and kissing her lately? She shook her head and vaguely noticed Rain pulling her toward the door. Rain was shaking with laughter, clearly amused at Max's shock. Kaplan stood at the door and waited for them, Rain aimed her weapon and Max did the same after shaking herself out of it. Kaplan nodded and opened the door. Rain fired several rounds into the heads of the undead in front of them, taking them down permanently. Her weapon made no noticeable noise as it was suppressed so it didn't bring any attention to them. Kaplan closed the door behind them and they heard Peyton put something into the door to keep it from opening. They heard the sounds of a few gunshots from somewhere in the back of the church. A few undead heads turned and started to wander toward them, Max having raised her gun in response was stopped by Rain who whispered that there were too many of them.

They quickly went around the building and away from the undead, their feet traveling faster than they had before. Kaplan seemed to be better at keeping up now that he had something to kill the pain in his leg. They were down the street without incident when they heard really faint pops signifying more gun shots. They heard a man scream in pain and death and Max paused to go back.

"Nothing we can do now Max, keep moving," Kaplan gently shoved her along and they heard the sound of a motorcycle in the distance.

"Come on, we gotta keep moving. That dumb ass on the bike will attract more to us," Max nodded at Rain and they hurried down a deserted alley.


	6. Part VI

Part VI

* * *

The sound of gunshots ahead alerted them to the presence or living and dead people.

Rain motioned for them to stay down and alert while moving ahead. They moved rather quickly down the alley and as they hit the end, Rain aimed down the left, Kaplan took the right, and Max aimed behind them to prevent anything from sneaking up on them.

A cellphone rang out loudly, causing them to jump. They turned on Kaplan who was digging around in his vest for the offending object.

"Kaplan! This is not the time for phone calls!" Rain walked over to him and yanked open one of the pockets and handed it to him.

Max on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of a ringing cell phone in the middle of the apocalypse.

"Honestly, I would have thought Umbrella would have tower blockers in this situation," Max looked to Rain and Kaplan who both nodded slowly.

"They do Max, they do," Max frowned as Kaplan answered the phone. He didn't say anything but his eyes flicked around and he pointed to something in the distance; both Max and Rain turned and saw the camera aimed directly at them.

They went back to watching out for the undead but Max took a moment to turn to Kaplan who'd gone white in the face. She frowned and went back to looking.

Kaplan hung the phone up, "We need to get out of here. And fast."

"Wait, what?"

"Umbrella is gonna sanitize the city. Precision tactical nuclear device, five kilotons," Rain froze and Max, though she didn't know what it meant, knew it was bad. Especially since the words nuclear and sanitize were in it.

"What did he want?"

"He wants us to find his daughter and rescue her, then he'll help us escape."

"Where is she?"

"At her school," Kaplan looked at the street sign and then pointed toward the right, "that way."

"Let's move," Rain grabbed Max's arm and pulled her next to her, "We're gonna have to move fast Loca. Keep an eye on Kaplan."

"I can hear you," Kaplan yelped from behind them and Rain snickered just a little before leading them down the way at a faster rate than before. Max turned and saw that Kaplan was now having a little more trouble keeping up than before. He gave her a reassuring smile and a nod. They reached the school in record time and headed in. They checked the school map on the side of the wall.

"We're going to have to split up," Max sighed as she spoke and Rain shook her head.

"No, we stay together, splitting up is bad."

"We have to. There's not much time left and we need to find the girl," Rain growled in frustration and punched the glass covering the fire extinguisher.

"I'll take the basement, Kaplan take the first floor, and Rain, take the second," Max kissed Rain before she could argue, smirked and left. Max checked various rooms before encountering a single undead girl; she was facing the wall, missing an arm, and dripping coagulated blood. She was a child, and she secretly prayed it wasn't the girl they were looking for before stabbing her in the back of the head. She groaned and tried to pull the knife away; the sound of squelching blood and bone made her sick; she left the knife where it was and walked out.

A fist connected with her face and she fell back, "Son of a..."

"Oh shit! You're aliv- Max?" Max rubbed her jaw and looked up to see the same girl from earlier; S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine.

"Anyone ever tell you that you've got a mean right hook?" She groaned as Jill helped her up with a slight laugh and a look of guilt.

"I'm sorry, thought you were one of them," Max moved her jaw back and forth before it popped.

"Ow, yes. I get that often," sarcasm laced her words and she chuckled lightly.

"Are you looking for the girl too?" Max nodded and Jill smiled a little.

"She's not here," she was about to continue before she heard a scream. It was quiet, but it was there.

"Shit!" They both rushed out and up to the first floor where the scream had come from. Max took the corners carefully and quickly and they entered the gym. There were balls everywhere, Max giggled at this thought before following Jill into a classroom.

"You can't help her," they both jumped and aimed their weapons at the girl who'd spoke, "not now. I've seen what they do."

This had to be the girl Angela Ashford; that name struck a familiar bell in her head but she shook it off.

"Are you Angela?" Jill lowered the weapon and took a few careful steps toward her. Max felt a strange familiarity about her and shook it off again. Her nose twitched at the smell in the room; sickly sweet. Like an orange packing house on a hot summer day.

"Yes. We should hurry before they come back," Jill reached for her and pulled her toward her. They started to walk, Max followed after them, weapon still raised. She realized slowly that the scent was coming from the girl. Jill picked up the camera off the floor and instructed Angela to hold on to it for her.

Max lead the way to find the others. She vaguely paid attention to the two talking behind her.

"Angela Ashford huh? That's a pretty grown up name for a little girl."

"I'm not a little girl. Besides, all my friends call me Angie."

"Angie? I like that," Max smiled and slowly opened the cafeteria door.

"Those things are in here," Angie froze behind her and Jill.

"It's okay honey, they're slow. We can walk around them," Jill aimed her weapon at the closest undead before Angie pointed at something.

"No. Not them, them," Max froze when she saw the undead dog. She hated dogs, well not all dogs, just the undead ones.

"Get back," Jill whispered to Angie before pushing her behind her. She took a step back and aimed her weapon at the dog. Max made the same motion and the dog got up from eating its meal. It noticed them and snarled before licking its chops. It let out another snarl before running straight toward them. Max and Jill both opened fire; they hadn't expected it to be so fast as they missed the first few times. It launched itself into the air and slammed into Jill sending her flying into a table. Max fired another two rounds that hit their target; it merely hindered the dog. It turned on her and sprinted for her.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Max needed to reload. She fumbled for the spare clip in her vest. She vaguely noticed Jill lunge for her fallen weapon as the dog jumped to attack. Her hand slipped and she dropped the clip; it was halfway toward her face and she dropped down before a burst of gunfire echoed in the room.

Her eyes caught the dog falling and laying completely still before she looked up to see Rain and another man with guns raised. Clearly they'd both just saved her ass. They both simultaneously began to pick off the undead in the room before making their way over to Jill, Angie, and Max.

The man wandered over toward the body of the dog, he stared at it before pulling his sidearm and shooting it one last time in the head, "Stay." His accent was thick and clearly he wasn't from the United States originally.

"We thought you might need a hand," Rain wandered over to Max to make sure she was unharmed. Max smiled at the world and gently patted Rain's arm in reassurance.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Rain snorted and shook her head to say something like 'yeah, right'.

"You work for Umbrella?" Oh right, none of them had told her that they'd used to work for them. And the man was sporting an Umbrella patch.

"Used to. Until they left us for dead in this place. Now I consider myself freelance," his accent added a strange ring to the word freelance, "Sergeant Nicholai Genovev, at your service." He snapped a salute and grinned before being taken down by another undead dog.

"Come on!" Angie took off at a dead run before Jill yelled and went after her. Rain shot the dog once but Nicholai was wrestling with it still and she was afraid to fire another round for fear of hurting him.

"Save the girl! I've got this bitch," he punched the dog in the face, which had the situation not been so serious, might have been funny, as long as the dog had rabies or was still undead. The three women ran after the scared little girl, yelling for her to stop.

They heard some faint screams and Rain tried to turn and go back before Max grabbed her, telling her it was too late for him as the screams had gone silent.

They ended up in the kitchen. Jill had caught up to Angela and held her hand, "From now on, I need you to stay right beside me."

The kitchen was pretty messed up; things thrown about, there was a giant fridge blocking their exit. Half cooked, half burned, food lay in pots and pans.

"What do we do now?" Angie looked to them for answers. The sound of a door creaking open made Max turn just in time to see two undead dogs walking in, strips of meat hanging from their mouths.

Carefully Jill got lower and instructed Angela to watch both directions for her. Rain went around the corner to see if she could head off the dogs and Max waited next to Angie.

Jill went for a meat cleaver on the floor and Max noticed the lunch lady slowly crawling out from beneath the stove to have a little Jill-meat for lunch. Quickly Max went over and grabbed the undead women by the shirt and drug her backward. Jill gasped a little before snapping the woman's neck and offering a quiet thanks to Max. Max nodded with a smile and turned around to watch behind Angela. The sound of a bark made the three of them jump and Jill got up; with some quick thinking she turned the gas on the stove and grabbed Angela. Max grabbed Rain's hand and ran out with her. She could hear Jill crack one of the dogs with a pot.

Rain turned toward Jill who was running in the opposite direction with Angela. The other dog lurched toward them and Rain pushed her ahead of them and out the door across the room that led into an office. They heard the explosion behind them and Max hoped they'd gotten out.


	7. Part VII

VII

* * *

Shards of glass burst through the small opening in the doorway resulting from the blast and cut lines across Rain's face. Max winced and grabbed a small med kit from another pouch on her vest. She pulled Rain toward her and carefully used the small plastic tweezers to dig out the larger pieces of glass from her cheek. She took out another alcohol soaked pad and rubbed over the wounds. With a hiss, Rain smacked her hand away.

Max just laughed, "Big baby." She put away the rest of the med kit and turned just in time to catch a half eaten undead child coming toward them.

"SHIT!" Rain turned on a dime and fired a round which, had the undead been an adult, would have hit its mark in the head. The undead girl grabbed at Rain's waist trying to bite into the soft flesh beneath the denim. Max reacted quickly and punched the zombie child in the face. It staggered backward and Rain hesitated. She couldn't bring herself to shoot a child.

Max watched her for a moment before drawing her own weapon and dropping the undead creature. She didn't look at Rain directly, but could see from the corner of her eyes that she was watching her. She felt shame and guilt at having to put down the undead girl. She turned and tried to make her way toward the voices she heard coming from down the hall. After a moment, Rain followed after her.

The guilt was clawing at Max's insides. She replayed the events of killing both undead children and she felt sick to her stomach. Her mind knew and tried to make sense that it was either that or be killed; her heart couldn't tell the difference. It had still been a child.

They took an alternate route into the room where they saw Angela pulling out a case, Jill recovering with a cigarette, and to their surprise, there stood Alice.

Jill looked up in time to see the two of them, "Glad to see you two made it."

Alice turned and her eyes widened as she took in the two girls, "Rain. Max. Never thought I'd see you two here."

"Well you know Rain," Max started, "has to be a fucking hero. Oops, sorry kid."

Angela let out a slight giggle at an adult apologizing to her for her language. Rain shrugged and walked over to Alice; she stuck her hand out and Alice snorted before pulling her into a hug. Max felt the smallest hints of jealousy tugging at her but tried to put it off as nothing. Their hug lasted a few moments until it was interrupted by the door coming open and three men walking in. One of which had a weapon trained right on Alice's heart. Without blinking or hesitating, Alice had her own shotgun aimed dead at him.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! He's cool, he made a deal with Dr. Doom, same as you," a rather enigmatic looking man in a very cool hat held his hands up to stop them from shooting each other. Alice put away her shotgun and he lowered his weapon. Kaplan limped over to Rain and Max to make sure they were okay. They assured him they were fine but he looked a little worse for wear. He was pale and shaky, and very clearly in pain. His limp was much more prominent.

Jill paused for a moment and turned full on to address the Umbrella mercenary, "How many of you guys are there?" He paused for a moment and gave her a look of confusion.

"What do you mean?" She nodded at the man who'd saved their asses earlier; he lay in a pool of blood on the floor.

"Nicholai," behind him, the man with the hat took it off as a sign of respect for the deceased mercenary. Another strange scent filled the air in Max's nostrils; it smelled like vinegar and oranges and a tad bit of seawater combined. It wasn't pleasant but it wasn't unpleasant either. It was then that the mercenary began to cough and gag; a blob of blood and sputum hit the floor next to his feet.

"Sexy," Rain mumbled under her breath.

"When were you bitten?" Alice started walking toward him like a bad ass with the shotgun on her shoulder.

"What the-," the black man stepped back and gave the mercenary a rather dirty look.

"Three hours ago," he stared at Alice as she walked closer.

"Looks like it's your lucky day," she smirked and walked past him.

"Should of told me you got bit mother-fucker, I'm hanging with you and shit," Max and Rain burst into simultaneous laughter. Max didn't know this man, but she liked him already.

They followed Alice out of the school and the moment they got near the payphone it began to ring. Alice picked it up and after a moment of listening, responded with, "First, you tell us how we're getting out."

Max helped Kaplan into the truck that Jill pointed them to. She helped get him up on to the tailgate and he let out a sigh of relief. Her eyes looked around and she pulled out a bottle of painkillers, she gave him two and he gave her a thankful look before dry-swallowing them.

Max jumped aboard next to him and pulled him back toward the cab; Rain closed the tailgate shut behind them and jumped over it. She checked the clip in her silenced weapon before shoving a few more rounds in it. The black man with the hat walked over to them in silence before sticking his hand out to them.

"Name's Lloyd Jefferson Wade, you can call me LJ," he shook their hands as they introduced themselves to him. Then he proceeded to jump into the truck before the mercenary came to introduce himself.

"Carlos, Carlos Olivera, it's nice to meet you," he smiled as he shook their hands. The scent coming from him was stronger than it had been when he was further; a light hint of seawater. Actually rather pleasant when not combined with the other smells.

"Max, Rain, and Kaplan," Kaplan made a noise of protest.

"My name is Chad damn it," they chuckled and shook their heads.

"Doesn't fit Kap, sorry."

Alice made her way over to them and the others got into the vehicle; Alice opened the trucks back window so they could speak to each other.

"How the hell did you three get away?" Max's face lost color as she remembered John and Andy. The feeling of guilt overwhelmed her again and she let out a sigh. Clearly Kaplan was on the same page as her as he patted her leg gently.

"We had help," Rain nodded slowly, "they are...were good people. Anti-Umbrella of course, but good people. They told us where you were but when we went to get you, you were already gone. They helped get Max here out of hot shit, helped us acquire some not so legal items."

Rain went silent as Alice nodded in understanding. She took something out of the case Angela had given her and Max recognized it as the anti-virus.

"So what are you injecting me with?" Carlos held his arm out, clearly unlike Max in the aspect of needles. The truck passed by various undead who tried in vain to make a grab at the truck. The smell of death hung in the air like a light coast mist.

"The T-Virus reanimates dead cells. Basically, bringing the dead back to life. Or, in a living human, it can cause uncontrollable mutation. Or, it can help her walk again, if the virus is kept in check with this." Carlos seemed to be putting the proper two and two together to get the sum of five.

"Angie's infected?"

"Yes," Angela looked back at Alice and Carlos who both gave her a reassuring smile.

"The cellular growth is enough to regenerate her, but not enough to cause mutation." Alice looked back at Rain who was sitting against the tailgate, weapon in hand ready for action.

"And they infected you with the T-Virus as well?" Max saw them both flash a smile at each other and felt yet another pang of jealousy before Alice turned back to Carlos.

"Yeah. But don't worry, I'm not contagious," the look Alice and Carlos exchanged made Max feel a little better. Devious little minx that Alice was.

"Here. Tape the story and I'll see that it gets put to good use," Jill passed Alice the video camera that Terri had used earlier. Alice held the camera up to her face and began to speak.

"My name is Alice. I worked for the Umbrella Corporation, the largest and most powerful commercial entity in the world."

"Don't forget the biggest douche-bags," Max yelled out and Alice laughed.

"Anyway, I was head of security at a secret high-tech facility called The Hive," at this Max popped into the background behind Alice.

"I worked there too, and a bottle of Jose Cuervo saved my life," Max winked at Alice as she shook her head and gently pushed her head back out the window.

"Like that's anything to be proud of Loca!"

"As I was saying, before Maximilian can interrupt me again," with that she looked back at Max who gave her a thumbs up and waved a bit at the camera, "The Hive. A giant underground laboratory developing experimental viral weaponry." They turned the corner and passed a bus with shattered, bloody windows. They parked nearby in time to see a helicopter landing very carefully on top of City Hall. They jumped out of the vehicle (Kaplan was sliding out) and scanned the area.

Rain ducked down and looked up, her eyes spotting movement on one of the taller buildings ahead of them. She pointed it out to Alice who nodded before taking off to do her own thing.

"Alright, here's the plan. We're gonna walk up to the top of City Hall and commandeer that helicopter," though the plan seemed simple Max couldn't help but wonder if it truly would be.


	8. Part VIII

VIII

* * *

Of course it wasn't that easy. They had to climb in through the window, which of course was horrible for poor Kaplan who they had to lift up and over; he fell with a thud and a groan. Rain muttered something along the lines of 'cry-baby' and helped him up. Max went over next and caught Angela as she fell. She set her down and flashed her a smile before helping Jill and Carlos down with a bit more grace than Kaplan had.

They quickly made their way through the halls, dispatching a few official looking people along the way. Max punched the vice mayor in the face then shot him, "Fucking hated that guy. What a douche-bag."

"What did he ever do to you?" Max scoffed and shook her head at Kaplan.

"Clearly you aren't from here," he grinned and shrugged as Carlos hefted most of Kaplan's weight on his shoulder and helping him along.

Max kept an eye behind them aiming her weapon at anything that dared move. They got to the roof access area and Carlos passed Kaplan on to Max. They watched him hand his gun off to Jill and motion for Rain to follow him. They both silently jumped over the barrier and crept over to the Umbrella security guards. Carlos quickly snapped ones neck while Rain kicked the other in the face, cracking the glass and sending him to the floor. Carlos backtracked and took his weapon from Jill and lead the way up the walkway. As they passed the fallen men, LJ began to kick one of them and Jill stopped him with a 'Hey!' and pushed him ahead, scolding him like a child.

Max tried so hard not to laugh and LJ flashed her a very white and toothy grin then a wink. She shook her head and Rain stepped between the two, "You two done flirting? Let's go."

They walked up, Max trying not to smirk at Rain's back. She turned just in time to catch part of Alice running down the wall; she was in awe. She'd never have the balls to do anything like that; she lost site of her as they walked toward the helicopter. They caught the end of Alice kicking some serious ass and watching Carlos chuck a knife straight in the head of one of the soldiers who was getting up.

"You missed one," Alice laughed a bit before walking up to the helicopter.

"We have to hurry."

"We're okay. We have time," Carlos tried to reassure her.

"No! We have to hurry." They all turned in time to see a very large humanoid like creature with a Gatling gun. Max's eyes widened in fear and she took a step back in to Rain who carefully pushed herself ahead of Max.

"Holy shit, we're stealing his ride!"

Alice drew her weapon and demanded the pilot to take off. Max froze when she felt a gun at her head; her hand tightened on the weapon in her hand.

"Don't do it bitch," she turned just in time to get the butt of a rifle to the face. She fell back and on the ground dazed and a little pissed off. Rain tried to punch him but he aimed the gun at her face.

Her face hurt. She didn't like that; no one made her face hurt. She turned her head slowly in time to catch the man who'd stopped Alice originally, the man who was at one time, Max's boss, shoot Dr. Ashford.

Angela yelled for her father and leaped toward him. Tears streamed down the poor girls face as the man explained something to Alice. Max was pulled up by the arm and her arms were zip-cuffed behind her. Rain sat next to her, not looking at her. Her eyes turned to Carlos who looked pissed off and saddened for poor Angie.

She tried to inhale but she coughed and a bit of cloud dripped from her nose. With a sigh she leaned to wipe it off on her shoulder causing herself some pain. She caught the sounds of fighting and roaring; her eyes looked up to see Alice fighting the creature who'd discarded his Gatling gun. Her fists stopped against his chest, she could see that Alice was saying something to him.

Doctor Dick-Head walked over and demanded that Alice finish him, his words got lower and they couldn't hear anything he said. The creature behind Alice tore himself off the metal that he had been stuck on. She heard the sound of a pocket knife clicking open and turned her head only slightly to see Carlos wink at her.

The creature began to fire and kill the Umbrella security detail; Carlos got free and passed his knife to Jill; he flipped and shot several members. Max was still in a daze; it hadn't occurred to her that things were going on.

Rain got up and cut Kaplan loose before cutting Max's bonds.

"Come on Loca, don't just sit there like a bump on a fuckin' log!" She shook her for a moment and pushed her into the helicopter in time to see LJ punch Doctor Dick-Head-Douche-Bag-Cain. With a laugh she kicked him in the face and sat next to LJ in the co-pilots seat.

They started the helicopter and LJ looked back to make sure the others were on the helicopter.

Rain stood behind her, "Now where the fuck did you learn how to fly a helicopter?"

"There's a lotta things you don't know about me," Max smirked slightly and Kaplan tapped LJ's shoulder. He got up and Kaplan took his place.

"Wait!" Max turned to look at Alice holding him on gate.

"Killing me won't put things right!"

"No, but it's a start," she tossed him to the ground and Max could hear the sound of gunshots. The dead had broken through and started up the ramp. She flipped a few switches and looked at Kap, her co-pilot. He winked and she grinned.

"Hang on to something!" Carlos yelled from the back as the nuclear precision weapon went off behind them.

"We're going down!" The helicopter spun out of control as Max tried desperately to swing it around the other way to try to stabilize them. It wasn't working.

She blacked out.

* * *

Her eyes opened weakly, she turned her head a little with a groan. A hand was undoing something from around her. The vest; it was caught on something. She looked down to watch a lightly tanned hand tear away the fabric that was holding her against the torn controls. A man's voice echoed in her ears as the sound of another man reassuring him. Sound was distorted. Where was she? Who was she?

Raccoon City. That rang a bell. Felt familiar; made her feel sick. Things came flooding back; her name was Maximilian. They had escaped. They crashed. Killing children. Abandoning John and Andy. A deep gasp came from her; she hadn't realized she wasn't breathing.

"That's it Max, breathe."

She knew that voice. Liked it. Comforted by it. A smaller hand touched her face, she turned and saw a child cleaning some blood off her face. The sound of rushing water hit her ears. Water? She was thirsty. Her stomach rumbled; hungry too apparently.

Her hand reached up slowly and Angela took her hand; she smiled at her and Max returned it. She felt hands on her stomach; her eyes cast down and she saw a piece of a propeller sticking out of her. That probably shouldn't be there; it was small but it was lodged in deep. She could feel it in her back.

"This is nothing Max, come on now. We gotta go Loca. You're holding us up for this? Kaplan lost his fuckin' leg and not the broken one," Rain had tears streaming down her cheeks. Why was Rain crying?

"Gimme-," she tried to speak but the gurgle of liquid in her throat made her stop. Her body began to try to expel it; she coughed hard and turned her head to keep it out of Rain's face. Blood splattered all over the metal and rocks next to her head. When had she gotten outside?

She gasped a little for air and tried to calm herself; she could hear Rain yelling at her but she could see Carlos bandaging Kaplan's stump of a leg tightly.

"Cut...circ...blood...loss," she muttered and Carlos looked at her. His face was bruised and bloody; his eyes turned to look at Rain who was saying something. Carlos nodded along and took his belt off; he used it to cut the circulation off from Kaplan's leg. Things were starting to go blurry and she vaguely felt the sting of a slap on her cheek. Her eyes, only slightly more alert, raised to look at Rain who looked pissed.

"You fuckin' die on me and I'll bring you back to kill you myself," Max had enough in her to snort and her eyes went blank.


	9. Epilogue

_Epilogue._

* * *

**-3 Weeks Later.-**

The black SUV pulled up in front of building; Alice was surrounded by men holding guns on her.

Carlos, Jill, and LJ hopped out of the vehicle and Carlos took a step toward her.

"Thank you gentleman, we'll take over from here," Jill walked up behind him while LJ, in full body armor, stood back behind them.

"On whose authority?" The man in charged headed for Carlos who pulled out some paperwork and pushed it into his hands.

"Classified. Level six authorization," Rain stepped out behind LJ and stood next to him. Her weapon clearly in view and within reach if they needed it. The man stared at the paperwork and motioned for his men to lower their weapons before apologizing to Carlos.

Jill took Alice's arm and lead her down the steps; Carlos placed a jacket over her half-nude form. Rain opened the door for Alice who slid in easily and Jill filed in after followed by Rain. LJ jumped into the driver's seat and Carlos took shotgun beside him. LJ began to drive and only got a little ways down the way before hooting.

"That shit was real man," he laughed and Jill shook her head before smacking him the arm.

"Not so loud LJ, they might still hear you and we're not in the clear yet."

They approached the security gate and LJ put his game face on; two guards approached, one on each side. Carlos, without missing a beat or even looking at the man, passed him the papers. A phone began to ring from behind him; he looked at the papers then to Carlos and backed up to answer the phone. In a moment he was back, and he waved them through. The gate raised up in front of them and Carlos turned to her.

"Good to have you back," he grinned and patted her knee. A familiar child popped up as they passed the security gate.

"Are you alright?" She smiled and Alice smiled right back at Angela. Kaplan sat up behind her, holding a very powerful looking rifle in his lap. Clearly he'd been ready if anything happened.

"What did they do to you?" Jill shifted uncomfortably next to Alice. She didn't feel things were right.

"I...don't know," Alice shivered a little at her own voice and sighed. Rain turned and gave her half a smile.

**To be continued...**


End file.
